"No matter where you go, there you are."

WONTHAGGI TO SOUTH AUSTRALIA

Tuesday 6^th November

It was Melbourne Cup day and we went off to the Wonthaggi Bowls Club for a game of bowls and a bit of fun. We had nibbles and champagne at 9.30am then onto the greens for a couple of games. We had a lovely chicken and salad lunch, watched the race and checked our sweep horses. As usual we didn’t have a winner but we did have an enjoyable day.

Wednesday 7^th November

We took Joan for a drive today out through the green Gippsland hills to Kurrumburra. The views were great looking out over the hills towards Inverloch and the ocean.

Thursday 8^th November

We did a bit of spring cleaning in the van this morning then headed off to bowls in the arvo. We both had good games.

Friday 9^th November

We moved the van today out onto the footpath as a marquee is being erected in the backyard in preparation for Kim’s birthday party tomorrow. We spent the afternoon setting up for the party and gave Twistie a bath.

Saturday 10^th November

It’s Kim’s 40^th birthday today. We did more setting up, blowing up balloons etc throughout the day. Phil put the roasts on the spit mid afternoon and the guests started arriving at 5.30pm. It was a fabulous night the food was fantastic. Ferg and I snuck off to bed about 9.30pm and the last guests straggled out at 5am. It was a big night for Kim and Phil!

Sunday 11^th November

It was a quiet start to the morning. We helped with the clean up then picked up Joan for a scenic drive out to Inverloch via Cape Paterson. The road winds along the clifftops and has some great lookouts along the way. We bought some fish and chips for lunch then had a picnic at one of the lookouts. We packed up the van in the afternoon and hitched up the car as we head off very early tomorrow morning.

Monday 12^th November

We were on the road by 4.30am and had a good run through to the Mornington Peninsula. We pulled into the Sorrento ferry terminal at 6.30am. Just enough time to make a cuppa and watch the sunrise before the ferry arrived. We had a good crossing, the seas were flat and in no time we were disembarking in Queenscliff. It was much easier taking the ferry rather than driving all the way up to Melbourne then down through Geelong. We spent several hours driving along the Great Ocean Road checking out Bell’s Beach along the way. It is one of the best ocean drives. We pulled into Apollo Bay mid afternoon and found a great van park at the recreation reserve.

Tuesday 13^th November

We took our time packing up and eventually left Apollo Bay to drive through the Otways National Park. The road wound through tall timber forests with the occasional spectacular view across the rolling hills to the ocean. We came back down to the coastline at Princetown then meandered our way along the rest of the Great Ocean Road. We passes by the Twelve Apostles and various other lookouts as we had seen these earlier in the year. Although we did stop in at “London Bridge” and the “Bay of Islands” for another look. We pulled in at Warrnambool to find an early voting centre for the upcoming federal election. We decided to move on to Portland to stop for a few days. We arrived late in the afternoon and found a great van park.

Wednesday 14^th November

Portland is a very pretty city, we had a lovely walk along the foreshore in the morning. We checked out the bowls club and ended up having a roll up for a few hours. Later we took a drive out to Yellow Rock and Cape Nelson Lighthouse. We spotted a brown snake at Yellow Rock, luckily Twistie didn’t see it. We spent the afternoon playing bowls at the Portland Bowls Club.

Thursday 15^th November

It’s a magnificent sunny day, we took a nice walk around the wetlands of Fawthrop Lagoon. We decided to go on a seal tour from Cape Bridgewater. The walk down to the boat took 15 minutes and was quite steep down the cliff. Ferg and I got front row seats in the rubber ducky. The seas were calm and we got to see both Australian and New Zealand fur seals up close. They were lolling around on the rocks and some swam near the boat. It was a good tour. In the afternoon we took Twistie for a long walk along Nun’s Beach. At 6pm we headed up to the bowls club for a game of twilight bowls.

Friday 16^th November

We are moving on today crossing into South Australia. We traveled through Mt Gambier and down to the coast at Beachport. We stopped here for a morning cuppa by the sea. Now we are in South Australia we have to turn our clocks back by half an hour. Our destination today is Robe and we chose the Sea-vu Caravan park right on the beach. Our spot was good overlooking the ocean although the sites were small and we felt jammed in. Robe is a very quaint little town with lots of old sandstone buildings. We took a walk through town and shouted ourselves fish and chips for dinner. We sat outside the van and watched the sun set.

Saturday 17^th November

The weather had changed and it was quite windy so we got on the road early. We headed north through the Coorong district. As we left the coastal saltbush we came into the Langhorn wine growing district. There were many boutique wineries and grape vines as far as the eye could see. We arrived into Victor Harbor by lunchtime and found a nice grassy site at the Victor Harbor Holiday Park. We took Twistie for a long walk along a nearby creek. She was exhausted by the time we got back, it was a bit much for the old girl.

Sunday 18^th November

Just off Victor Harbor is Granite Island and it connected to the mainland by a wooden causeway. Ferg and I took a walk across the causeway then around the island. There is a horse drawn tram that operates daily across the causeway for the tourists. We chilled out for most of the day. Twistie got a bath and Ferg washed the car. We took a scenic drive out to the Bluff in the afternoon.

Monday 19^th November

We were slow moving this morning. Ferg gave the van a wash while I gave the interior a clean. We are only going a short way today, across to the other side of the Fleurieau Peninsula to Normanville. Once settled in we drove down the coastline to Rapid Bay. The diving off the Rapid Bay Jetty is supposed to be very good. The town itself looks deserted and the hills around are very barren. Unfortunately there was no where on the peninsula where we could hire scuba tanks. We called in to Second Valley and found another good snorkeling site. It was a very hot afternoon, we took a walk along the beach in the afternoon and paddled our toes.